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A  SERMON 


IX    (H^MMEMORATION    OF    THE 


REV.  JOHN  GRAY,  D.D., 


"Pastor  o/'  f/ie  /•''irst  "Preshyleriftn   Cfiiirch  in  Easfon,    7^a, 


PREACHI'I)  FEBRUARY  16,  1868, 


REV.    W.   HEiNfKY   GREEN.   D.D. 


PUOFKSSOK   IN 


New- York  : 
JOHN  A.  m\k\   k  (4KEEN,  PRINTERS,  16    AND   18  JACOB   ST. 

1868.  WU 

r^^ 


xM^' 


A  SEEMON 


IN    COMMEMORATION    OF    THE 


REV.  JOHN  GRAY,  D.D., 


Castor  of  ihe  First  l^resbyterian  Church  in  Fusion,  2^a, 


PREACHED  FEBRUARY  16,  1868, 


EEY.   W.   HENEY  GEEEIs\  D.D. 

PROFESSOR   IN   THB  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINART,   PRINCETON,   N.   2. 


New-York  : 
JOHN  A.  GRAY  ^  GREEN,  PRINTERS,  16  AND  18  JACOB  ST. 

18G8. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/sermemorOOgree 


,sftjt;stp  ^seo 


Rev.  W.  H.  Green  :  Easton,  March  2,  1868. 

Dear  Sir  :  Having  listened  with  religious  interest  and  melancholy  plea- 
sure to  your  excellent  sermon  preached  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Easton,  commemorative  of  the  life  and  services  of  its  late  lamented  pastor, 
Rev.  Dr.  Gray,  and  believing  that  its  publication  would  be  for  the  general 
good,  we  earnestly  and  respectfully  solicit  a  copy  for  the  press. 


William  A.  Kerb, 
M.  H.  Jones, 
J.  W.  Long, 
J.  S.  Rodenbaugh, 
Samuel  Boileau, 


P.  F.  Eilenberger, 
Derrick  Hulick, 
James  F.  Randolph, 
John  T.  Knight, 
John  Drake. 


Princeton,  March  5,  1868. 
Rev.  W.  a.  Kerr  and  Messrs.  M.  H.  Jones,  P.  F.  Eilenberger,  and  others : 
Gentlemen  :    In  compliance  with  the  request  of  your  note,  I  place  the 
sermon  at  your  disposal.  Yours  truly, 

W.  Henry  Green. 


SERMON 


Zechaeiah  1  :  5. — "The  Prophets,  do  they  live  forever?" 

It  is  astonisliiDg  to  what  an  extent  our  practical 
beliefs  are  moulded  by  our  desires  rather  than  by  the 
evidence  before  us  or  within  our  reach.  Men  will  not 
believe  what  they  do  not  wish  to  be  true.  It  might  be 
supposed,  prior  to  experience,  that  no  conviction  could 
be  more  deeply  rooted  in  the  human  heart  than  that 
all  men  must  die.  The  Word  of  God  distinctly  and 
emphatically  declares  it.  The  constant  and  uniform 
experience  of  mankind  confirms  it,  and  yet  there  are 
few  who  practically  believe  it  in  aj)plication  to  them- 
selves. While  no  sane  man  can  dispute  a  truth  so  pal- 
pable, all  tacitly  except  themselves  from  its  operation, 
or  make  their  admission  so  vague  and  indeterminate 
that  it  amounts  to  a  practical  denial. 

And  next  in  prevalence  to  that  incredulity  which  will 
not  admit  the  thought  of  dying  ourselves,  is  that  which 
refuses  to  believe  it  possible  that  those  to  whom  we 
fondly  cling,  or  whose  lives  seem  to  us  most  necessary, 
can  die.  But  no  exception  will  be  made  to  the  common 
lot  of  humanity,  whether  for  us  individually,  or  for 
those  whom  we  deem  most  essential,  or  for  whom  we 
would  plead  most  earnestly  that  they  might  be  spared. 
No  exception  will  be  made  even  for  the  sake  of  God's  own 
cause  in  the  world.  Its  staunchest  defenders  and  most 
strenuous  promoters  must  in  their  tui'u  succumb  to  the 


6 

same  fate  with  the  rest  of  men.  God's  own  chosen  and 
honored  instruments  are  taken  away,  regardless  of  the 
interests  bound  up  in  their  life,  and  of  the  warm  affec- 
tions and  fond  hopes  which  have  clustered  about  them. 
The  great  Architect  lays  his  hands  with  seeming  vio- 
lence on  the  pillars  of  the  house  which  he  is  himself 
erecting,  as  though  reckless  of  the  extent  to  which  its 
beauty  and  stability  might  be  marred  by  their  removal. 

The  prophets  did  not  live  forever.  They  served  each 
his  generation  by  the  will  of  God,  then  fell  succes- 
sively asleep.  The  Lord  Jesus  himself  submitted  to  the 
stroke  of  death ;  his  sacred  abode  on  earth  amounted  to 
no  more  than  the  bare  averas-e  of  human  life.  And  in 
the  prospect  of  his  departure  he  said  to  his  amazed  and 
sorrowing  disciples,  "  It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go 
away."  After  this,  for  whom  shall  we  expect  or  solicit 
exemption?  This  rivets  the  absolute  universality  of 
the  law  of  death.  The  conqueror  of  the  king  of  terrors 
himself  was  obliged  to  pass  through  the  portals  of  the 
grave ;  and  he  leads  the  whole  of  his  victorious  host 
through   the   same  gloomy  passage. 

The  best  and  the  holiest,  the  most  honored  and  the 
most  useful,  fulfil  their  appointed  term,  then  pass  from 
the  stao-e  of  life  undistin2:uished  from  the  common  herd. 
The  gi'eat  leveller  lays  his  unsparing  hand  with  frightful 
impartiality  on  all.  The  servants  of  God  are  cut  down 
in  the  prime  of  life,  or  when  they  are  just  budding  into 
usefulness,  or,  like  our  venerated  father  recently  laid  to 
rest,  they  come  to  their  grave  in  full  age  like  as  a  shock 
of  corn  Cometh  in  his  season. 

^nd  now  the  marvel  is,  that  of  such  frail  and  perish- 
able materials  Christ  builds  his  church,  against  which, 
he  has  declared,  the  gates  of  hell  shall  never  prevail. 
When  men  build  for  immortality,  they  select  the  most 


enduring  materials  they  can  find,  and  compact  tliem 
together  in  a  rigid,  unyielding  mass.  And  yet  their 
efforts  are  mocked  by  wasting  time.  Their  proudest 
structures  crumble  into  dust.  Their  monuments  are 
heaps  of  ruins  given  over  to  decay.  But  when  God 
would  rear  an  earthly  temple  to  his  praise,  that  shall  last 
as  long  as  the  sun  and  moon  endure,  he  chooses  for  the 
purpose  what  is  and  remains  transient  and  fieeting, 
whose  apt  emblem  is  the  vanishing  cloud  and  the 
fading  flower.  Of  all  the  living  stones  that  at  present 
compose  the  church  of  God  on  earth,  there  is  not  one 
which  must  not  shortly  be  removed,  leaving  an  un- 
sightly gap,  unless  another  shall  be  fitted  to  its  place. 
There  is  not  one  particle  in  the  entire  structure  that  is 
permanent ;  not  one  that  shall  be  suffered  to  continue. 
The  whole  body  of  materials,  out  of  which  it  has  been 
WTOught,  is  in  constant  flux.  How  can  aught  that  is 
stable  be  so  constructed  ?  What  is  there  to  assure  us 
that  it  shall  not  suddenly  crumble  into  atoms  or  vanish 
out  of  sight  ?  In  spite  of  any  apj)arent  strength  it  may 
have  gained,  how  can  any  confidence  be  reposed  in  its 
perpetuity?  Is  it  not,  from  its  very  constitution,  inher- 
ently unsubstantial  ?  If,  like  the  rainbow,  it  needs  to 
be  every  moment^  renewed,  what  matters  it  though  it 
may  have  extended  its  beautiful  arch  until  it  spans  the 
sky,  and  its  base  seems  to  be  firmly  planted  on  the 
ground  ?  May  it  not  be  similarly  short-lived,  and  melt 
away,  even  while  we  gaze  admiringly  upon  it  ? 

If  there  were  any  exceptions  <to  this  changing 
and  perishable  nature  of  the  constituents  of  God's 
great  edifice,  our  faith  might  be  less  sorely  tried. 
If  only  the  divine  Corner-stone  himself,  on  which 
the  whole  reposes,  had  but  remained  visibly  in  the 
world.     Or,   if  when   the  Master  himself  withdrew, 


lie  had  committed  to  angels  wlio  are  not  subject 
to  death,  the  work  of  maintaining  and  promoting  his 
cause  on  earth  as  long  as  the  world  stands.  Or  if, 
making  men  his  agents,  he  had  exempted  his  own  peo- 
ple from  the  common  law  of  mortality,  so  that  every 
stone  built  into  this  structure  might  stand  where  he 
had  placed  it,  to  the  end  of  time,  and  each  accession 
might  be  so  much  actual  and  permanent  increase, 
instead  of  being  merely  a  temporary  addition,  which 
would  soon  go  to  swell  the  magnitude  of  antecedent 
losses,  that  there  might  be  nothing  to  countervail. 
Or,  if  at  least  apostles  and  prophets  might  live  forever; 
if  there  might  be  something  that  was  permanent;  some 
buttress  that  need  not  fall  nor  crumble  to  decay ;  some 
portion  of  the  materials  that  could  abide  fixed  and 
defy  the  ravages  of  time,  it  might  assist  our  faith. 

But  when  we  look  ujDon  the  church  of  God  in  the 
world,  as  it  actually  is,  made  up  of  dying  men ;  and  see 
its  gallant  defenders  mown  down  in  their  ranks,  and 
know  of  a  surety  that  the  lapse  of  a  single  generation 
will  carry  all  that  now  compose  the  church  to  their 
graves,  what  is  there  to  prevent  the  anxious  fear,  that 
she,  too,  may  experience  the  same  fate  which  has  over- 
taken or  is  destined  to  overtake  all  that  is  merely 
human  ?  What  is  there  to  forbid  the  apprehension  that 
she  may  not  be  able  to  sustain  this  constant  waste,  to 
repair  this  incessant  damage,  to  make  up  these  never- 
ending  losses,  and  she,  too,  may  in  consequence  fall 
into  ultimate  decay? 

There  would  be  less  room  for  ai^prehension  if  the 
church  of  God  in  the  world  were  sustained  and  ex- 
tended by  miracle,  and  the  human  means  and  agen- 
cies employed  had  only  a  seeming,  not  a  real  value 
and  efficiency.     I  am  not  sure  but  the  confidence  we 


9 

think  we  entertain  of  the  perpetuity  and  progress  of 
God's   earthly   kingdom  is   sometimes   built   on   this 
unsubstantial   foundation;   and  what  we   flatter   our- 
selves is  faith  in  the  unftiiling  word  of  promise,  may 
be  a  presumptuous  hope  built  on  a  mistake  and  a  delu- 
sion.    The   old   Docetse   imagined   that  the   body  of 
Christ  was  but  a  phantasm ;  that  it  existed  in  appear- 
ance only,  not  in  fact ;  that  it  was  not  an  actual  material 
organization,  but  only  seemed  to  be;  it  was  not  real 
flesh  and  blood,  needing  to  be  sustained  by  nutriment, 
and  subject  to  the  ordinary  law^s  of  life  and  growth, 
but  the  mere  vail  or  cover  of  the  divinity  within.    I  am 
not  sure  but  we  sometimes  revive  this  ancient  heresy  in 
application  to  Christ's  mystical  body,  withdrawing  it  to 
an  unwarranted  extent  from  the  laws  and  the  condi- 
tions of  its  earthly  existence,  forgetting  that,  though 
it  is  the  habitation  of  God  through  the  Sj)irit,  it  is  pos- 
sessed of  a  true  humanity,  its  members  are  still  men 
like  other  men,  and  the  laws  of  our  ordinary  human 
nature  are  not,  in  their  case,  and  will  not  be,  for  their 
sake,  altered  or  suspended.     The  efficiency  of  its  opera- 
tions depends  upon  the  judicious  adaptation  of  means 
to  ends,  and  the  energetic  employment  of  the  agencies 
requisite  to  attain  results,  just  as  truly  as  in  the  case  of 
any  purely  human  organization.     If  we  imagine  that,  in 
some  unexplained,  mysterious  way,  the  immediate  opera- 
tion of  God  will  supply  the  defect  of  human  instrumen- 
talities, or  do  away  with  the  necessity  of  human  activity 
and  effort,  Ave  are  laboring  under  a  delusion.     If,  when 
the  Lord's  prophets  die,  and  good  men  are  taken  away, 
we  remain  unaffected,  because  we  do  not  appreciate  the 
ma2:nitude  of  the  loss  which  his  cause  has  suflered  in 
their  withdrawal,  this  does  not  so  much  evidence  our 
strength  of  faith  as  show  that  we  do  not  see  the  occa- 
sion that  there  is  for  the  exercise  of  faith. 


10 

While  it  is  a  blessed  trutli  that  God  is  carrying  on 
his  own  work  in  the  church  and  in  the  world,  and  that 
he  may  be  relied  upon  to  secure  its  ultimate  comple- 
tion, and  that  we  cannot  expect  too  much  from  this 
omnipotent  cooperation,  if  only  its  nature  be  rightly 
apprehended,  it  is  nevertheless  a  possible,  and  perhaps 
a  common  error,  to  take  too  exclusive  or  one-sided  a 
view  of  the  divine  agency  in  this  matter,  without  pay- 
ins;  due  reo;ard  to  the  method  of  God's  workins:,  and  the 
laws  which  he  has  prescribed  for  his  own  supernatural 
acting.  Paul  may  j)lant,  and  Apollos  water,  but  it  is 
God  who  gives  the  increase.  It  does  not,  however, 
follow  from  this,  that  the  increase  ^vill  come  as  well 
without  planting  and  watering  as  with  it  ;  or  that 
unskilful,  unseasonable,  or  scanty  planting  will  be  fol- 
lowed by  the  same  returns  as  that  which  is  properly 
performed ;  or  that  Paul  was  no  more  efficient  in  his 
Masters  cause  than  a  less  highly  endowed  or  less 
devoted  workman  would  have  been.  God  will  not 
act,  even  in  building  up  his  own  kingdom  in  the  world, 
without  human  instrumentality,  and  this  will  be  made 
efficient  in  direct  proportion  to  its  adaptation  to  the 
end  desired  and  to  the  skill  and  energy  with  which  it 
is  employed. 

The  mystical  body  of  Christ  comes  as  truly  under 
the  operation  of  those  laws  by  which  the  world  is  gov- 
'Crned  as  did  his  material  body.  Its  growth  may  be 
advanced  or  retarded.  It  is  liable  to  injury,  mutila- 
tion, disease,  and  death.  There  will  be  no  miraculous 
intervention  to  suspend  these  laws  in  favor  of  the  one 
any  more  than  there  was  in  the  case  of  the  other. 
Unless  the  seed  of  the  word  is  sown,  there  wdll  be  no 
iniratherins:  of  converts.  If  the  means  of  c^race  are  not 
em2)loyed,  and  the  agencies  of  evangelization  are  not 


11 

made  use  of,  the  Gospel  will  not  make  progress  among 
men. 

When  gallant  champions  fall,  the  cause  which  they 
defended  suffers,  and  there  is  no  mao-ic  or  enchant- 
ment  to  repair  the  loss.  It  can  only  be  done  by  new 
zeal  or  fresh  enlistments.  If,  wdien  the  leader  is  slain, 
his  followers,  instead  of  suffering  themselves  to  be 
intimidated  or  driven  back,  shall  be  roused  by  it  to 
deeds  of  yet  more  desperate  valor,  they  may  convert  dis- 
aster into  victory.  And  if  this  church  shall  be  stirred 
up,  by  the  removal  of  one  who  has  for  so  many  years 
spoken  to  you  the  word  of  God,  to  pay  more  earnest 
heed  to  those  counsels  which  you  shall  hear  from  his 
lips  no  more,  maintain  a  closer  walk  with  God  and  be 
more  active  in  doing  his  will,  he  will  not  have  died  in 
vain. 

And  if  my  brother,  the  successor  of  this  man  of  God 
in  ministering  in  these  sacred  courts,  shall  catch  the 
inspiration  which  such  nearness  to  eternity  should  give; 
and  if  the  ministerial  associates  of  our  venerated  father 
in  this  town,  in  the  presbytery  and  elsewhere,  shall  heed 
the  providential  warning,  which  calls  them  to  greater 
diligence,  as  the  day  is  waning  fast,  it  will  be  as  when 
Elijah  was  caught  up  in  the  chariot  of  fire,  but  a  double 
portion  of  his  spirit  rested  on  him  who  was  left  behind. 

And  when  men  of  God  are  falling  thus  on  the  right 
hand  and  the  left;  when  fathers  and  brethren  beloved 
and  honored  are  summoned  away  from  their  work  to 
their  reward ;  when  the  intelligence  comes,  with  start- 
ling frequency,  of  missionaries  abroad  and  ministers  at 
home  dropping  into  their  graves,  while  the  Macedonian 
cry  from  a  perishing  world  waxes  louder  and  louder, 
are  there  none  to  spring  to  the  rescue  ?  none  who  will 
volunteer  to  swell  the  thinning  ranks  of  the  soldiers  of 


12 

tlie  cross,  and,  animated  by  love  for  Christ  and  love  for 
dying  men,  will  consecrate  themselves  upon  the  altar  of 
Grod  to  the  work  of  winning  souls  for  Jesus  ?  Who  is 
there  here  that  will  be  baptized  for  the  dead  ?  "Who 
will  fill  the  breach  that  the  fell  shaft  of  the  destroyer 
has  made  ?    Who  will  say,  Lord,  here  am  I,  send  me  ? 

Or,  once  more,  the  constant  draft  which  death  is 
making  upon  the  materials  and  resources  of  the  church 
might  awaken  less  anxiety,  if  any  natural  means  existed 
or  could  be  devised  of  providing  a  fresh  supply,  adequate 
to  meet  or  overcome  it.  This  is,  in  fact,  the  normal 
condition  of  organic  life.  The  composition  of  all  living 
organisms  is  subjected  to  a  constant  process  of  excretion 
and  incorporation.  There  is  no  part  of  our  bodies  but 
is  undergoing  continual  change.  Xot  a  moment  passes 
that  this  process  of  waste  and  repair  is  not  going  for- 
ward. Every  beat  of  the  heart,  every  breath  marks  a 
fresh  removal  of  the  old,  a  fresh  accession  of  the  new. 
Stop  this  process,  and  life  is  destroyed.  Stagnation  is 
death.  To  suj^ply  this  constant  waste,  inseparable  from 
vitality  in  material  organizations,  nature  has  appointed 
food.  For  each  has  been  provided  an.  abundant  sup- 
ply of  its  own  a23j)i'opriate  nutriment.  We  accordingly 
see  without  alarm  that  every  organ,  every  member  of 
our  bodies  is  momentarily  losing,  or  casting  away  the 
substance  of  which  it  is  composed ;  that  their  present 
constituents  are  wasting  with  the  rapidity  and  certainty 
of  sands  dropping  through  the  hour-glass,  because  we 
have  in  the  food  within  our  reach  the  means  of  their  con- 
stant and  ample  repair.  Dej)rive  us  of  our  needed 
aliment,  and  we  must  die  of  inanition. 

And  so  with  organizations  of  men.  The  individuals 
of  which  they  are  composed  are  removed  by  death ;  but 
if  they  are  founded  on  a  principle  which   makes  its 


13 

secure  appeal  to  the  native  passions  and  propensities  of 
men,  they  possess  an  inherent  force  which  will  gather 
others  around  them,  and  thus  perpetuate  themselves 
from  age  to  age.  Empires  founded  on  force,  by  inflam- 
ing the  ambition  of  rulers  and  the  popular  love  of 
glory,  may  continue  to  extend  their  conquests  and 
to  strengthen  their  dominion  generation  after  genera- 
tion. Governments  intrenched  in  the  affections  of  the 
people  may  grow  in  power  as  time  advances.  False 
religions,  which  offer  the  semblance  of  satisfaction  to 
man's  inward  cravings,  while  they  impose  no  restraint 
upon  the  evil  passions  of  the  heart,  may  maintain  a 
lasting  sway. 

But  the  religion  of  the  Gospel  meets  no  such 
response  from  the  corrupt  nature  of  man.  It  is 
just  what  he  needs;  but  it  is  not  what  he  loves. 
The  natural  heart  arrays  itself  against  it.  It  is  a 
hard  saying  to  be  required  to  forsake  the  world,  to 
deny  one's  self  and  take  up  the  cross,  to  crucify  the 
flesh  with  its  affections  and  lusts.  Some,  as  they  hear 
it,  are  filled  with  bitterness ;  others  go  away  sorrowful. 
With  all  the  light  and  truth  and  glory  of  the  Gospel, 
not  a  human  soul  would  ever  be  won  to  it  by  his  native 
inclinations.  The  corrupt  heart  can  not  of  itself  rise  to 
God.  There  is  no  inward  force  that  can  counteract  its 
gravitation  downward.  Human  nature  can  not  reform 
itself  The  notion  that  it  can,  involves  the  self  contradic- 
tion of  the  perpetual  motion.  A  weight  can  not  lift  itself, 
nor  a  machine  be  self-propelled.  The  forces  of  nature 
can  not  rise  above  nature,  nor  impart  a  life,  the  elements 
of  which  it  does  not  contain.  No  man  can  convert 
himself;  nor  can  any  agencies  or  methods,  which  man 
can  originate  or  devise,  quicken  liim  who  is  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins. 


14 

What  is  there,  then,  to  prevent  the  church  from 
dying  out  in  a  generation  ?  And  when  the  Lord's 
prophets  die,  and  good  men  are  taken  away,  must  not 
each  departure  be  the  presage  of  approaching  dissolu- 
tion to  the  body  of  which  they  have  been  a  part  ?  a 
fresh  breach  in  an  already  tottering  wall,  that  must 
soon  and  inevitably  crumble  to  its  base  ? 

The  answer  is  found  in  the  immediate  context  of 
the  passage  before  us :  ^'  Your  fathers,  where  are  they  ? 
and  the  prophets,  do  they  live  forever  ?  But  my 
words  and  my  statutes,  which  I  commanded  my  ser- 
vants the  prophets,  did  they  not  take  hold  of  your 
fathers?"  The  prophets  die,  but  the  word  of  the 
Lord  endureth  forever.  And  that  word  has  an  undy- 
ing, unfailing  efficacy.  It  took  hold  of  your  fathers, 
and  it  took  hold  of  you,  as  it  was  proclaimed  by  God's 
servant  now  gone  to  his  rest.  It  shall  take  hold  of 
every  successive  generation  till  time  shall  be  no  more. 
All  shall  exemplify  or  experience  its  almighty  energy. 
There  is  a  power  attending  the  word  of  God  and  its 
faithful  proclamation  to  achieve  the  mightiest  results. 

The  devoted  minister  of  Christ  wields  an  influence 
among  his  fellow-men,  the  contemplation  of  which  fills 
me  with  awe.  It  is  not  to  be  measured  by  any  ordi- 
nary standard.  It  can  not  be  adequately  estimated  by 
computing  his  effectiveness  in  public  discourse,  his  fac- 
ulty of  instructing,  persuading,  impressing,  convincing 
his  hearers ;  nor  by  recounting  his  qualities  as  a  man, 
the  excellence  of  his  character  with  the  moral  weight 
thence  derived,  or  those  personal  traits  which  give  in- 
fluence over  others.  All  these  gather  their  chief  im- 
portance in  his  case  from  their  subordination  to  some- 
thing vastly  higher,  from  their  being  taken  into  the 
service  and  made  the  vehicles  of  that  which  is  the 


15 

errand  distinction  of  the  sacred  office.  The  minister 
of  Christ  is  the  ambassador  of  God  to  men,  beseeching 
them  in  his  Master's  name  to  be  reconciled  to  Him,  treat- 
ing with  them  on  matters  of  infinite  concern.  And  he 
is  not  only  thus  commissioned  from  above  to  expound 
the  will  of  God  by  uttering  the  words  which  the  Lord 
has  put  in  his  mouth,  but  his  is  the  awful,  the  myste- 
rious prerogative  of  being  an  organ  through  whom 
God  exerts  his  almighty  power,  a  medium  of  the  com- 
munication of  divine,  supernatural  grace. 

Superstition  has  clothed  the  ministers  of  religion 
with  mysterious  powers,  and  ignorantly  fancied  them  to 
possess  prerogatives  never  intrusted  to  mortal  hands. 
And  yet  all  that  superstition  has  been  able  to  invent, 
instead  of  exaggerating,  falls  below  the  greatness  of 
the  reality.  They  are  instruments  in  the  hand  of 
Christ,  which  Christ  employs,  through  which  Christ 
acts  in  achieving  the  salvation  of  men.  Their  minis- 
trations in  public  and  in  private  are  means  of  grace, 
channels  through  which  the  gracious  power  of  God 
flows  down  to  men.  Their  words  of  warning,  or  of 
entreaty,  or  of  consolation,  or  of  instruction  are  accom- 
panied by  the  energy  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  by  him 
made  effectual  to  the  conviction  and  conversion  of  sin- 
ners and  to  the  edification  of  them  that  truly  believe. 
It  is  theirs  instrumentally  to  bring  men  to  the  know- 
ledge of  God  and  reconciliation  with  him,  to  lead  them 
to  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  to  communion  and  a  holy 
walk  with  their  Creator  and  Redeemer,  and  to  the 
immortal  bliss  of  heaven^ 

This  omnipotent,  saving  energy  is  imparted  in  con- 
nection with  the  ordinances  of  religion.  It  is  not  put 
forth  apart  from  the  divinely  instituted  means  of  grace, 
and  is  chiefly  joined  with  their  administration  by  the 


16 

living  ministry.  It  is  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching 
God  saves  them  that  believe.  Even  the  written  word 
apart  from  preaching  produces  comparatively  small 
results.  It  is  the  Gospel  as  preached  that  is  princi- 
pally made  efficacious  to  the  salvation  of  men.  It  is 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  that  is  the  main  hope  of 
the  church  and  of  the  world.  This  it  is,  which,  by  the 
attendant  power  of  God  and  his  converting  grace,  must 
preserve  the  church  from  extinction,  when  those  who 
now  constitute  its  membership  are  laid  low.  This  it 
is,  which  shall  ultimately  make  the  Gospel  every- 
where triumphant  and  accomplish  the  conversion  of 
the  world. 

The  Lord's  prophets  do  not  live  for  ever,  but  the 
fruit  w^hich  they  bring  forth  shall  remain,  of  souls  re- 
deemed from  death,  of  the  institutions  of  religion 
planted  and  sustained,  of  agencies  for  good  set  in 
operation,  whose  influence  shall  widen  and  increase 
until  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Lord,  as  the  waters  covers  the  sea. 

I  say  again,  my  thoughts  are  filled  with  awe  as  I 
reflect  upon  the  greatness  of  the  power  committed  to 
the  minister  of  Christ,  and  the  mao-nitude  of  the  func- 
tions  with  w^hich  he  is  intrusted.  I  am  struck  with 
awe  as  I  reflect  upon  what  is  comprehended  in  that 
ministry  of  four-and-foi-ty  years,  which  has  been  so 
recently  terminated.  What  results  have  flowed  from 
it  for  time  and  for  eternity  !  What  interests  connected 
with  the  kingdom  of  Christ  were  bound  up  in  it ! 
Who  can  tell  the  bearings  aaid  the  issues  of  such  a 
ministry,  or  estimate  them  at  their  real  worth  ?  Forty- 
four  years  spent  in  regularly  preaching  the  word  of 
God  week  by  week  in  this  place  !  How  many  minds 
were   brought   permanently  or  occasionally  under  its 


17 

influence,  whose  course  in  life,  wliose  destiny  through- 
out eternity  has  been  moulded  by  it  ?  How  many 
souls  converted  of  which  the  books  of  this  church  con- 
tain no  record  ?  How  many  sorrowing  hearts  have 
here  been  comforted,  the  hesitating  confirmed,  the 
straying  led  back  to  the  path  of  piety  and  peace,  the 
timid  encouraged,  the  despairing  relieved,  the  tempted 
set  free  from-  Satan's  snares  ?  How  many  have  been 
stimulated  to  a  more  active  faith  and  a  more  devoted 
"life  ?  How  many  have  come  dejected  and  cast  down 
to  these  sacred  courts,  have  here  recovered  strength, 
and  have  gone  away  rejoicing  in  hope  ?  How  many 
have  there  been,  whose  hearts  have  burned  within 
them  during  the  breaking  of  bread  or  the  exposition 
of  the  Scriptures  ?  How  many  are  now  in  heaven  who 
look  back  with  inexpressible  emotions  upon  impres- 
sions received  or  sanctuary  privileges  enjoyed  in  the 
course  of  this  ministry  of  almost  half  a  century  ?  Eter- 
nity alone  can  disclose  it.  The  experiences  of  eternity 
alone  can  enable  us  to  comprehend  its  magnitude  or 
its  worth. 

Kev.  JoHis-  Geay,  D.D.,  was  born  December,  1798, 
in  the  County  of  Monaghan,  in  the  north  of  Ireland. 
Deprived  of  a  mother's  care  at  an  early  age,  he  was 
taken  to  the  residence  of  his  maternal  grandfather, 
who  lived  near  the  beautiful  and  romantic  village  of 
Clontiberit.  Here  he  was  kindly  cared  for  by  a  pious 
and  devoted  Christian  grandmother,  and  received,  to- 
gether with  religious  training,  as  good  an  education  as 
the  little  village  school  could  afford.  He  afterward 
attended  the  grammar  school  taught  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Stewart,  who  subsequently  removed  to  this  coimtry 
and  died  in  Philadelphia  several  years  ago.  When 
prepared  for  college,  he  was  sent  to  the  University  of 

2 


18 

Glasgow,  in  which  celebrated  seat  of  learning  he  re- 
mained for  some  time.  Subsequently  he  attended  the 
theological  lectures  of  the  distinguished  Dr.  John  Dick. 

While  still  young,  Mr.  Gray  was  licensed  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Monaghan,  and  preached  as  a  proba- 
tioner in  various  vacant  congregations.  But  provi- 
dentially meeting  with  the  Eev.  Duncan  Dunbar,  an 
agent  of  a  missionary  society  in  the  province  of  New- 
Brunswick,  a  new  direction  was  given  to  his  thoughts, 
and  he  was  induced  to  emigrate  to  America.  He  was 
married  on  the  8th  day  of  October,  1820,  and  on  the 
day  following,  accompanied  by  his  bride,  he  bade 
adieu  to  his  native  land  forever.  They  sailed  from 
Londonderry  in  the  ill-fated  Halifax,  Captain  Craig, 
bound  for  New- York,  which  port  she  never  reached. 
For  more  than  six  long  months  they  were  tossed  about 
on  the  bosom  of  the  stormy  Atlantic.  They  suffered 
hunger  and  cold,  sickness,  the  fear  of  death,  and  the 
dread  of  mutiny  among  the  crew.  At  length,  after 
narrowly  escaping  shipwreck,  they  were  safely  landed 
upon  the  island  of  Bermuda.  Here  they  remained 
three  weeks,  when  they  once  more  embarked  and  again 
encountered  storms.  By  the  good  providence  of  God, 
however,  they  arrived  in  the  province  of  New-Bruns- 
wick, where  Mr.  Gray  preached  for  about  eighteen 
months.  But  finding  the  climate  too  cold,  he  left  for 
the  United  States.  Upon  arriving  in  New- York,  he 
joined  himself  to  the  Seceder  Church,  which  was  just 
about  uniting  with  the  Presbyterian  body,  and  came 
over  with  it  into  the  denomination  in  which  he  labored 
and  died. 

By  a  series  of  events,  apparently  fortuitous,  he  was 
led  to  this  place,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his 
life.     Easton  was  at  that  time  a  comparatively  small 


19 

town.  The  Presbyterian  Cliurcli  had  been  organized 
about  ten  years  before  by  the  Presbytery  of  New- 
Brunswick.  The  number  of  its  members  had  increased 
from  thirty  to  seventy,  in  connection  with  the  faithful 
labors  of  Rev.  Mr.  Boyer  and  Rev.  David  Bishop,  who 
were  successively  stationed  here  as  stated  supplies. 
They  had  originally  worshipped  in  the  old  court-house, 
which  used  to  stand  in  the  square  in  the  centre  of  the 
town.  From  that  they  removed  to  this  building,  w^hich 
was  at  first  a  small  structure,  but  has  since,  by  three 
successive  enlargements,  grown  to  its  present  dimen- 
sions. The  weekly  evening  lectures  were  held  in  the 
academy,  until,  upon  the  first  enlargement  of  the  church, 
they  were  transferred  to  its  basement,  where  they  con- 
tinued until  the  erection  of  the  separate  and  commo- 
dious building  now  in  use  for  that  purpose.  The  only 
other  churches  then  in  the  town  were  the  Episcopal 
and  the  German  Reformed,  the  latter  being  occupied 
by  both  the  German  Reformed  and  Lutheran  congre- 
gations. 

Dr.  Gray  was  invited  to  preach  in  Easton  in  the 
month  of  September,  1822,  and  was  ordained  on  the 
3d  of  the  following  December  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Newton.  After  ministering  to  the  congregation  for 
six  years  as  stated  supply,  he  received  a  unanimous 
call  to  be  their  pastor,  and  was  installed  on  the  8th  of 
October,  1828.  Few  pastorates  have  been  so  prolonged 
as  this  was.  During  his  residence  here  every  church 
in  this  place,  not  excepting  those  most  recently  estab- 
lished, have  changed  their  pastors,  some  of  them  sev- 
eral times.  He  ministered  to  this  congregation  in  all 
forty-four  years  and  four  months,  during  Avhich  period 
he  admitted  to  the  church  eleven  hundred  and  sixty- 
one   members,  baptized  nine  hundred  and  fifty-three 


persons,  and  married  ^ve  liuudred  and  nineteen 
couples. 

It  had  been  his  cherished  desire  to  die  with  his 
harness  on  in  the  active  discharge  of  his  ministerial 
duties.  His  health  became  so  enfeebled,  however,  in 
the  spring  of  1866,  as  to  disable  him  from  the  full  per- 
formance of  his  parochial  functions,  and  Rev.  M.  A. 
Depue  was  appointed  his  assistant.  Upon  the  re- 
moval of  the  latter  to  Boston,  Dr.  Gray,  whose  health 
continued  to  decline,  felt  himself  constrained,  by  his 
growing  infirmities,  to  resign  his  office  as  pastor  of  the 
church.  He  took  final  leave  of  the  people  of  his  charge 
on  the  first  Sabbath  of  April,  1867,  in  a  very  solemn 
and  affecting  communication,  from  which  I  can  not  for- 
bear makino;  the  followino;  extract : 

^^  As  pastor  and  people  we  shall  never  meet  again, 
and  if,  in  my  long  pastorate,  I  have  said  an  unwise 
word,  or  done  a  work  which  was  not  meet,  I  recall  the 
one  and  regret  the  other,  and  it  shall  be  my  effort  and 
prayer  to  bring  all  that  has  been  amiss  in  word  and 
work,  and  lay  them  beneath  the  drippings  of  the  spear 
and  the  nails  and  the  thorns,  asking  nothing  from  you 
while  living  but  Christ,  and  when  this  frail  body  shall 
be  prepared  by  death  for  my  burial,  that,  like  Stephen 
of  old,  the  devout  men  that  I  have  taught,  may  bear 
me  to  earth's  last  resting-place. 

"  Brethren,  friends,  farewell !  Meet  me  at  the  judg- 
ment-seat, for  I  may  no  more  meet  you  at  this  mercy- 
seat,  much  as  we  might  desire  it."  To  that  judgment- 
seat  he  has  now  gone,  and  you  must  shortly  follow. 
May  there  be  none  who  have  heard  the  word  of  life 
and  of  salvation  from  his  lips,  against  whom  he  shall 
be  obliged  to  appear  as  a  swift  witness  on  that  day, 
and  whose  shall  be  a  dreadful  doom,  aggravated  by  the 


21 

neglect  of  privileges  here  so  long  and  so  abundantly 
enjoyed. 

"  What  family  in  this  congregation,"  he  adds,  "  have 
I  not  rejoiced  with  in  their  joy,  and  mourned  with 
in  their  sorrow?"  I  can  well  imagine  the  response 
which  appeals  like  these  must  awaken  in  the  breasts 
of  those  who  are  here  present.  For  I  am  a  sharer  in 
your  grief.  I,  too,  have  sat  in  these  pews  and  listened 
Sabbath  after  Sabbath  to  that  voice  now  hushed  in 
death — nay,  rather,  which  is  vocal  with  praises  before 
the  throne.  Here  my  grandparents  worshipped.  This 
sainted  man  of  God  joined  my  father  and  my  mother 
in  marriage  and  gave  them  his  blessing.  He  baptized 
me.  Under  his  ministry  I  first,  as  I  trusted,  gave  my 
heart  to  the  Redeemer  of  lost  sinners.  Here,  in  front 
of  this  sacred  desk,  I  first  uttered  the  solemn  vow,  in 
the  presence  of  the  Lord's  people,  that  I  would  live 
for  God.  From  his  hands  I  have  received  the  symbols 
of  a  dying  Saviour's  body  and  blood.  He  has  coun- 
selled me  and  prayed  with  me.  I  have  seen  him  in 
the  house  of  affliction.  He  has  ministered  at  the  burial 
of  those  whom  I  cherished  and  loved.  I  can  well  im- 
agine, then,  the  ties  which  were  ruptured,  and  the 
shock  which  was  experienced  in  this  church,  and  in 
this  community,  when  the  fact  was  known  that  Dr. 
Gray  was  no  more. 

His  solicitude  for  this  beloved  church  never  ceased 
while  he  lived.  Its  welfare  had  been  the  one  care  and 
labor  of  his  life.  It  lay  upon  his  heart  to  the  last. 
He  could  scarcely  talk  of  any  thing  else,  and  he  often 
spoke  of  it  with  tears.  The  unanimity  with  which  his 
successor  was  chosen,  and  the  cordial  welcome  extended 
to  him,  was  a  source  of  great  gratification,  to  which  he 
frequently  referred.    He  said,  not  long  before  his  death. 


22 

that  he  had  often  prayed  that  he  might  see  the  church 
united  and  harmoniously  settled,  and  since  this  prayer 
had  been  answered,  he  could  say  with  aged  Simeon, 
"  Now,  Lord,  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace." 
The  period  covered  by  the  life  of  your  venerated 
pastor,  is  one  marked  by  rapid  progress  and  by  great 
events  in  the  church  and  in  the  world.  It  covers  the 
rise  of  the  great  benevolent  agencies  and  mission  en- 
terprises of  Protestantism  and  of  this  country — Bible 
societies,  tract  societies,  and  missionary  societies.  It 
embraces  almost  the  entire  life  of  this  nation,  from  the 
formation  of  the  American  Constitution,  with  the  won- 
derful development  of  this  country  in  population,  re- 
sources, and  power.  It  is  the  period,  too,  of  the  growth 
of  the  American  churches.  The  minutes  of  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  in  1822,  re]Dort  seven  dollars  as  the 
total  amount  of  the  contributions  made  by  this  church 
during  the  year  to  the  cause  of  missions.  You  know 
how  that  compares  with  what  you  have  been  doing 
since,  and  what  you  are  doing  now.  The  cause  of 
education  has  taken  immense  strides.  Institutions  of 
learning  are  multiplying,  becoming  more  amply  en- 
dowed, and  provided  with  more  numerous  and  effi- 
cient corps  of  instructors.  Your  own  college,  of  which 
Dr.  Gray  was  for  thirteen  years  a  trustee,  and  in  whose 
recent  prosperity  none  rejoiced  more  heartily  than  he, 
is  an  example  before  your  eyes,  with  its  rapidly  swell- 
ing, though  still  uncompleted  endowment,  its  expanding 
dimensions,  its  enlarged  faculty,  and  its  growing  num- 
ber of  students.  Facilities  of  intercommunication  by 
steam  and  telegraph,  traversing  the  continents  and  belt- 
ing the  oceans,  are  preparing  the  way  for  the  more  rapid 
and  vigorous  spread  of  the  Gospel  by  setting  Christen- 
dom in  tnore  efficient  contact  with  the  unevangelized 


world.  Gospel  principles  of  freedom  have  been  mak- 
ing their  way  over  the  earth,  leavening  the  nations, 
upheaving  the  masses,  breaking  down  prescriptive  privi- 
leges, and  undermining  venerable  systems  of  falsehood 
and  error.  Slavery  has  fallen  with  a  crash,  from  the 
shock  and  dust  of  which  we  have  not  yet  recovered. 
The  hearts  of  God's  people  are  yearning  for  a  closer 
unity  of  organization,  and  increased  harmony  of  action 
and  effort,  of  Avhich  we  have  recently  had  some  most 
surprising  and  delightful  manifestations.  When  we 
review  what  has  occurred  in  the  last  seventy  years,  it 
seems  impossible  to  persuade  ourselves  that  all  this 
can  have  taken  place  within  the  compass  of  a  single 
human  life.  What  the  next  seventy  years  may  bring 
forth  it  would  be  vain  to  conjecture.  Some  of  those 
who  have  waited  on  the  ministry  of  this  revered  man 
of  God,  may  be  spared  to  see  more  wonderful  changes 
yet  than  this,  which  shall  betoken  yet  more  clearly 
the  triumphs  of  the  Prince  of  Peace  and  the  establish- 
ment of  the  kingdoiji  of  heaven  amongst  men. 

God  led  his  aged  servant  peacefully  and  gently 
down  to  his  final  rest.  The  closing  scene  was  peace, 
perfect  peace.  There  was  not  a  struggle,  not  a  groan, 
not  one  parting  pang,  but  softly,  sweetly,  calmly,  he 
fell  asleep,  and  so  passed  away  to  heaven.  The  change 
for  which  he  had  been  tranquilly  waiting  and  submis- 
sively longing,  came  at  length,  as  he  had  prayed  that 
it  might,  in  the  bosom  of  his  own  family  and  in  a  most 
merciful  form.  On  the  evening  of  Thursday,  the  9th 
of  January^  he  retired  to  his  rest  apparently  as  usual. 
But  from  that  sleep,  though  peaceful  as  the  slumber 
of  a  babe  upon  its  mother's  breast,  he  scarcely  again 
awoke.  During  the  few  moments  that  he  was  roused 
to  consciousness,  portions  of  the  Psalms  were  read  to 


24 

liim  by  different  members  of  bis  family,  and  be  seemed 
to  be  trying  to  articulate,  in  broken  accents,  tbe  prom- 
ises of  tbe  word  of  God.  Tbe  last  coberent  words 
tbat  be  uttered  were,  "  Tbe  Lord  is  my  salvation."  At 
ten  minutes  before  tbree  o'clock  on  Sabbatb  afternoon, 
January  12tb,  be  breatbed  bis  last.  Let  me  die  tbe 
deatb  of  tbe  rigbteous,  and  let  my  last  end  be  like  bis. 


